Who Will Cover The Spread In 2017 CFL Season Opener?

The 60th season of the Canadian Football League gets underway tonight (Thursday) as the Saskatchewan Roughriders visit the Montreal Alouettes for a 7:30 p.m. eastern kickoff at Molson Stadium.

Both teams are coming off non-playoff seasons (Montreal finished third in the East with a 7-11 record, while the Roughies tied with Toronto for the worst record in the league at 5-13) but are optimistic about their chances for turnaround campaigns. Montreal has signed a new quarterback in Darian Durant, while the Roughriders have improved their offensive line and receiving corps in an effort to spark an offense that was the worst in the league in 2016.

Let’s take a look at the betting lines for tonight’s action, then make our first 2017 CFL betting pick.

Roughriders/Alouettes Betting Lines At Pinnacle

Roughriders Alouettes Betting Lines

The Roughriders/Alouettes betting line opened with Montreal as a 6-point underdog, but money on the Alouettes this week moved Montreal to -7.5 at Pinnacle. Sports Interaction and Bodog were still offering the Als at -7 as of Thursday morning.

The Over/Under has also gone up since opening at 50.5. The total sat at 52.5 Thursday morning at Pinnacle.

Reasons to bet Saskatchewan

  • The Roughriders weren’t as bad as their record indicated last year. Nearly half of their 13 losses came by 8 points or less, which would basically cover this point spread.
  • Saskatchewan took a while to adjust to new coach/GM Chris Jones last year, but finished the year strong with 4 wins in its last 7 games
  • The Roughriders have covered 5 of their last 6 games as an underdog of 3.5-10 points

Reasons to bet Montreal

  • Montreal QB Darian Durant will be motivated to put on a huge performance against the team and coach who let him go this offseason
  • The Alouettes have covered the spread in 8 of the last 10 meetings, and beat the Roughriders 41-3 last year in Montreal
  • Saskatchewan has lost 15 of its last 18 road games

Roughriders/ Alouettes Betting Pick

Montreal probably wins this game, but don’t expect this to be easy. Season openers are a reason for optimism for all teams, and I think the Roughriders come into this one feeling they’ve got a great chance at the upset.

Though Durant will be motivated to put up big numbers against Saskatchewan, Roughriders pivot Kevin Glenn is also playing a team that got rid of him after last season.

We may need a late Saskatchewan score to backdoor this point spread, but with the line over the key number of 7, the value is on the Roughriders tonight.

Play: Roughriders +7.5 -114 at Pinnacle